While I do take more mea culpas than most people in this line of work, I'm overdue for one with respect to Sirius XM.

Simply put, throughout 2011 and 2012, I missed horribly on the company as well as the stock. And I don't think the future, at least not in my lifetime, will shine brightly on days gone by predictions of doom for Sirius XM.

I don't understand the ins and outs of Sirius's abusive relationship with Liberty Media as well as TheStreet's Richard Saintvilus does so I can't rip him too hard for his take on the situation. However, I can take exception with some of the knocks he has against Sirius XM, the business and consumer service, in the above-linked article.

Whenever Apple enters the conversation things get murky. That's because, much of the time, Apple probably shouldn't even enter the conversation.

Apple's "CarPlay" is no more of a threat to Sirius XM than Pandora is or the iPod was. Today, most people use their iPhones (and other smartphones) like iPods. And, even still, Sirius XM remains strong and stable. The IBM of all media companies if you will.

They're not too sexy. They don't generate headlines (unless Howard Stern does something newsworthy). And they're probably not the most dynamic and innovative company digitally and technologically. But they remain a surprisingly refreshing option on the dashboard.

So let's not confound Apple's CarPlay and Sirius XM. They're two completely different things.

CarPlay, for all intents and purposes, is iOS for your dashboard. In some respects, Apple would like to make iTunes Radio the default option for radio/music listening in the car, however it treads lightly and will continue to tread lightly in this respect.

Apple's not boxing every other piece of content out of the car. That would be a dumb move. People like their apps -- such as the ones above -- and, by removing them, Apple would likely trigger a backlash it has no desire to deal with. Because, and this is key, Apple is not a content company.